Too small for football, UFC 140's Walel Watson now a giant among bantamweights

Before the 5-foot-11 fighter ever strapped on a glove or set foot inside a cage, he was a big guy trapped in a skinny man’s body.

When he was a wide receiver in his junior year at Mesa College, scouts from Pac-10 schools came by to evaluate talent. But talent was only one part of the evaluations – and a smaller part than you’d think. After his team got done playing, the scouts walked down the line and asked to see the players’ hands.

Watson had been eating 12 meals a day. He had been taking creatine and hitting it hard in the weight room. Some of his teammates were taking shortcuts to gain size, but he wouldn’t do that.

“There is honor in everything I do,” he told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). “I just stuck to my guns and believed that everything was going to work out.”

But in the end, football didn’t work out. Watson simply hadn’t won the genetic lottery that made a career in the NFL possible.

Not long after this crushing realization, he found himself in a garage in Escondido, Calif. He had always liked MMA and thought he’d give it a try. Guys were strapping on four-ounce gloves and getting ready to spar. Some had mouthpieces, and some didn’t. Then the smashing began.

“I should have been doing this forever,” Watson thought as he went home.

Later, he ran into early-UFC fighter Noe Hernandez and told him about his epiphany. Hernandez took one look at him and told him he was a bantamweight. He was 150 pounds at the time.

“He’s like, ‘Trust me, you’re going to be fine,'” Watson said.

Three years have passed since Watson began his professional career with Team Hurricane Awesome, and he and his teammates are still going at it hard in the gym. The size deficit that sacked his football career is now his greatest weapon in the cage. He towers over most bantamweights and retains their speed.

In fighting, he’s won the genetic lottery.

“It’s always been against me, but now it’s for me,” he said.

Tonight, Watson (9-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC) meets Yves Jabouin (16-7 MMA, 1-1 UFC) on the preliminary card of UFC 140, which takes place at Air Canada Centre in Toronto. The event’s main card airs on pay-per-view. Watson vs. Jabouin kicks off a four-bout preliminary card ION Television after a three-bout card streams on Facebook.

Watson is 4 inches taller and holds a seven-inch reach advantage over Jabouin, which will undoubtedly help him against the Canadian’s aggressive striking. It certainly helped him in his UFC debut when he knocked out fellow newcomer Joseph Sandoval. He’s used to swinging hard, but any natural advantage is one to thank.

Not that the crowd will acknowledge that. Watson is the out-of-towner coming into hostile territory. But after fighting in Tijuana, Mexico, early in his career, he’s not too worried about the boos. The flying projectiles, maybe.

That’s one place his height might not help him or his team.

“My coach has been hit so many times in the back of the head,” he said. “I think we’ll be fine.”

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